Wrench



No. s||,499. Patented Sept. 27, I898.

c. s. METGALFE.

- WRENCH.

Application filed. Mar. 15, 1898.) (No Model) mmm CHARLES SAMULE METOALFE, SILVER CITY, TERRITORY OF NEW MEXICO.

WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 611,499, dated September 27, 1898.

Application filed March 15, 1 89 8.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES SAMULE MET- OALFE, of Silver City, in the county of Grant and Territory of New Mexico, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wrenches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a quick -adjusting wrench and a wrench in which fine adjustments may be obtained.

A further object of the invention is to provide a Wrench which will grip round work or grip polygonal work as securely as though in a vise and which may at times be used as a vise when an ordinary vise is not at hand.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the wrench that it will be handy and capable of being manipulated expeditiously and conveniently.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part-of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved wrench, illustrating the traveler as having been adjusted to cause the upper and lower jaws to engage with the material to be held. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating the lever connected with the wrench as having been brought in position to force the movable jaw more firmly against the work than could be obtained by the adjustments of the traveler. Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken practically on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4: is a perspective view of the traveler removed from the shank of the Wrench.

The shank A of the wrench is preferably rectangular in cross-section and is provided at one of its ends with the usual fixed jaw 10 and at the front and at the rear edge with screw-threads 11. A traveler B in the form of a sleeve is held to slide on the shank. This traveler is usually of similar shape to the shank and is provided near its lower end with an opening 12, extending through from side to side. A nut 13 is loosely fitted in the Serial No. 673,900. (No model.)

opening 12, the nut being adapted to receive the threads 11 and cause the traveler to move along the shank. At the upper end of the traveler a recess 14 is made, the recess being of such character that the back portion of the traveler is of greater length than the front portion, and the side walls of the recess 14 are usually stepped, although they may be given other shape. The front upper edge of the traveler is semicylindrical and forms a front bearing 15, while at the upper end of the back portion of the traveler B a cylindrical bearing 16 is provided connected with the traveler by a thin neck 17, as is best shown in Fig. 4.

The inner or lower jaw 18 is held to slide on the shank, being provided with an opening through which the shank may pass. A cylindrical slot or opening 19 is made in the bottom or inner portion of the movable jaw 18 at its rear, the said opening or slot 19 meeting with a straight slot produced in the inner or under surface of the movable jaw, so that the cylindrical slot or opening 19 may receive within it the cylindrical bearing 16 of the traveler. Under such a construction the movable jaw is carried to and from the fixed jaw by the traveler and is pivoted. thereon at a point remote from its biting surface.

In connection with the traveler B a lever 20 is employed. This lever is provided with a head 21,which is in the form of ahook and is fulcrumed upon the front bearing 15 of the traveler, the inner end of the head entering a recess 14 of the traveler, and the upper or head portion of the lever is bifurcated, as

shown in Fig. 8, so that a member may extend at each side of the shank A. The head 21 is a cam-head, being provided at-its upper outer edge with a curved or cam surface 22, which meets a straight surface 23 at the upper inner portion of the said head, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the operation of this device when the lever is carried out from the shank of the wrench, as shown in Fig. 1, the biting or free end of the lower or movable jaw 18 is permitted to drop to such an extent that the up per face of the said movable or sliding jaw will be slightly inclined; When the lever is vjustment has been made.

in the position shown in Fig. 1, the nut 13 is manipulated until the traveler has approached sufficiently near to the fixed jaw to firmly grip and hold the work or material, as shown in Fig. 1. By carrying the lever 20 inward parallel and in engagement with the shank A of the wrench the cam-surface of the lever, which will act upon the under or inner face of the sliding jaw at its free end, will force the sliding jaw parallel with the fixed jaw, causing the material between the two jaws to be held as firmly' as if in a Vise and provide for a quick adjustment and a nice adjustment after the first and quick ad- When the lever is parallel with the shank, the straight upper surface 23 of the lever will engage with the bottom of the sliding jaw and the said jaw will be prevented from slipping from its adj usted position.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 2. The combination with the shank pro-,

vided with a fixed jaw and the traveler adjustable upon said shank, of a movable jaw fitted upon said shank and pivoted at its heel upon one side of said traveler and a lever fulcrumed upon the opposite side of said traveler and engaging the front of said movable jaw 40 to move the same, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a wrench, the combination, with a shank provided with a fixed jaw, of a traveler held to slide on the said shank, a jaw pivoted at its heel end upon the said traveler, the jaw being also mounted to slide on the shank, and a lever fulcrumed upon the traveler beneath the free end of the pivoted jaw, the lever being provided with a cam-surface for engagement with the jaw and with a straight surface adjacent to the cam surface and likewise adapted for engagement with the pivoted jaw, for the purpose specified.

4. In a wrench, the combination, with a shank provided with a thread and a fixed jaw, of a traveler held to slide on the shank, .provided with a nut adapted for engagement with the threaded surface of the shank, the said traveler being provided with a bearing-surface at the upper portion of its front and with a second and more elevated bearing at the upper portion of its back, a jaw mounted to slide on the shank and provided at its back or heel end with an opening arranged to receive the rear bearing of the said traveler, and a lever havinga hook-shaped head, which head is fulcrumed on the front bearing of the traveler, the said head being provided with a cam-surface at its upper forward portion and with a connecting straight surface at its upper rear portion, both the cam and the straight surfaces being adapted for engagement with the movable jaw, as specified.

CHARLES SAMULE METCALFE.

Witnesses:

E. B. MOORMAN, D. A. SHIPLEY. 

